You don’t have to be vegetarian to love this hearty, low-calorie, high-protein burger. The bases are tempeh and black beans, combined with a binder (egg and cheese) and spices. Tempeh is a fermented plant base – often soybean, or other beans, grains, or seeds – that adds both savory flavor and meaty texture to give his burger satisfying ‘chew’. If you’ve never worked with tempeh before, don’t worry, it’s easy to use and readily available. To easily make this recipe vegan, substitute the egg for flax egg and use vegan shredded cheese. Enjoy!
-
PREP TIME20 min
-
COOK TIME10 min
-
TOTAL TIME30 min
-
SERVES4
Ingredients
- 1 8-oz package tempeh
- 1 cup canned black beans
- 1 egg
- ½ cup shredded cheese
- 2 scallions, sliced thin
- ¼ cup yellow onion, minced
- 1 tsp. soy sauce
- 1 tsp. smoked paprika
- 1 tsp. onion powder
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 1 tsp. salt
- ½ tsp. black pepper
- Olive oil
- 4 buns
- Lettuce, tomato, onion, cheese, or other preferred toppings
Instructions
- Beat egg in a small bowl and set aside.
- Crumble tempeh in a large bowl by hand; gently add in paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
- In another bowl, mash black beans slightly by hand.
- Add mashed black beans, scallions, onion, soy sauce, cheese, and egg to tempeh mixture, and again using your hands, mix until all ingredients are well combined. The mixture should hold together nicely at this point.
- Form uniform four patties, about 1 inch thick each, and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. You can even prepare the day before and refrigerate overnight. Brush the patties with olive oil before grilling.
- Preheat grill to medium high heat. Grill the burgers about 5 minutes per side, toast your buns and assemble with your favorite toppings!
For a great side to your Grilled Tempeh & Black Bean Burger, try our Grilled French Fries Recipe.